Five Below up and running, Marshalls and Old Navy to open in November at Sterling Crossing

STERLING – Sauk Valley shoppers won’t have to plan an extended road trip to complete their holiday shopping this season when two national stores open their doors next month in the newly renovated Sterling Crossing retail center.

One national retailer, Five Below, opened Sept. 29 to steady crowds, and two more, Marshalls and Old Navy, are slated to open in mid-November, developer Chris Williams said Friday.

“Marshalls is planning to open between the first and middle of November,” Williams said. “Old Navy is also planning to be open by mid-November.”

Sterling Crossing, 2901 E. Lincolnway, is located where Kmart operated for 41 years, from July 1973 to January 2014. Marshalls will occupy 23,000 square feet, and Old Navy will occupy 17,000 square feet.

On Thursday, workers from Smart Signs of Rockford were busy placing the Marshalls sign on the front of the building, while other workers entered and exited that store and the Old Navy location, preparing the buildings for their openings next month.

Next door to the Marshalls building, a steady stream of shoppers were in Five Below – a common occurrence for the store since its opening Sept. 29.

“It’s been very busy,” store manager Erin Sucher said. “We’ve been doing very well, and we’ve been very busy since the get-go. It’s been like this almost every day since we opened, and it’s like this until closing.”

Sucher said Halloween items are top sellers right now, along with other trendy items such as “Five Nights at Freddy” action figures. The store will be adding a “Five Beyond” section, featuring tech items and other merchandise that will sell for more than $5, she said.

Shoe Sensation also is coming to the new retail center, Williams said, leaving a 15,000-square-foot space between Old Navy and Shoe Sensation that still is available to lease.

Another clothing store, Maurices, will join the retail center adjacent to the 10,000-square-feet Five Below.

“We are at about 80% to 85% leased,” Williams said. “Overall, we are very happy with the progress, and the tenants seem to be happy, too.”

Four other “outlots” also are available in the retail center, Williams said.

“We have the capacity for four outlets close to Lincolnway, where we hope to have fast-food restaurants, a dentist or a bank,” he said.

At a groundbreaking ceremony in April, Williams said Sterling’s mayor and the council had been excellent to work with, and the development was a “perfect example of a successful private-public partnership.”

Williams is the owner of Highlands Development LLC of Kansas City, Missouri. He bought the building for $1 million about three years ago.

In November 2021, the City Council passed economic incentives for Williams, who at the time said he planned to spend $14 million to redevelop the 100,000-square-foot site in the East Lincolnway business corridor.

The economic incentives included creating a tax increment financing district and a business development district that include Sterling Crossing.

Almost all revenue derived from the TIF district and BDD are to be used to reimburse Highlands for costs incurred to redevelop and improve the site. In addition, Highlands will get a share of the 1% sales tax revenue raised there for 15 years – in most cases, a 50-50 split, but in some cases with some of the retailers, 85-15.

In addition to creating a new facade, Highlands will re-roof, add energy-efficient upgrades to the lighting and plumbing, completely redo the parking lot and landscaping, repair and replace damaged concrete and sidewalks, and add the new buildings.

He does not own the vacant Beef-A-Roo building adjacent to Sterling Crossing, and it is not part of Highlands’ redevelopment project.

That building is owned by Sterling businessman Scott Wolber, owner of Arthur’s Garden Deli in Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon, and Don Pedro’s restaurant in Sterling.

Marshalls is a discount department store that gets most of its stock from excess inventories; Old Navy, owned by Gap Inc. – along with Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta – sells clothing for children and adults; and Five Below sells toys, games, home decor, beauty products, pet supplies, art and crafts, and seasonal items, most for $5 or less.

The Sterling Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, part of the VA Iowa City Healthcare System, opened in 17,600 square feet of leased space at the east end of the building in January 2022. It moved there from a smaller site at 406 Ave. C downtown.

The VA clinic building, which opened next door to County Market in November 2011, is now the Illinois Department of Employment Security office.

Those interested in leasing space in Sterling Crossing can contact Williams at 913-372-7270 or Chris@Highlandskc.com.

Visit highlandsdevelopmentkc.com for information about the company.